


Downward Spiral

by Nekokratik



Category: One Piece
Genre: Ace had a bad day, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Deuce is also mentioned, First Meetings, Gen, M/M, Meet-Ugly, Portgas D. Ace Needs a Hug, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, mechanic!Ace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:02:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27294631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nekokratik/pseuds/Nekokratik
Summary: "The fuck you want?"Marco frowned at the crass attitude and the state of the employee in front of him. He had been told by his brothers that this new mechanic was funny and good at what he did, he even had Blamenco's approval, but Marco had yet to see the charm.
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace
Comments: 14
Kudos: 90
Collections: One Piece Bingo 2020/2021





	Downward Spiral

Ace sighed as he dropped down on the reception chair. He picked up a random magazine as he put his feet up on the desk and leaned back on the backrest. With the magazine opened to a random page, Ace placed it gently on his face and sighed in relief at the soothing darkness.

He was still on the clock and the shop was still open, but it was already close to closing time and he was the last one left in the shop. After a long and arduous day, he deserved at least this much.

The day had started off good for Ace. He had woken up at his usual time, he had a simple breakfast and he had made his way to the auto shop with no mishap.

It started off when he was getting a refill of his coffee that someone had bumped into him and spilled coffee all over him. Luckily, it had not been boiling hot coffee, but it was still hot and sticky, and it had left a big stain on his overalls. He changed into a tank top from his gym bag and waved off the apologies thrown his way.

He would have preferred not to stain his own clothes with engine oil, but they didn't have any spare overalls, so he made do.

There have been an increase of appointments and new clients in the past few weeks, and although it was nice that their clientele expanded, it also meant a lot more work.

Ace had worked on car after car and talked to client after client, rarely having a chance to catch his breath. He wiped his hands as he finished inspecting the car of his current appointment and went to search for the owners of the old vehicle. As he approached the reception and waiting room area, he could hear loud voices arguing heatedly. He sighed as he mentally prepared himself to do damage control before stepping into the room.

"Excuse me, but I'm going to have to ask you-"

"You are nothing without me!"

Ace sighed as his clients ignored him and continued arguing among themselves. He was just about to kick the two of them out when he noticed the man lifting his arm. Ace swiftly stepped in between them and pushed the woman behind him.

The punch meant for the lady hit Ace across the face with a resounding "whump" and the whole room fell into a heavy and ominous silence.

"This is how you throw a punch," Ace said with a feral smirk. Before the man could react, Ace decked him across the floor and followed it with an onslaught of beatings.

The lady who had been behind him screamed in fear and ran to the back of the reception desk to get away from the violence.

Deuce, who had been on reception duty, left her to her own devices and rushed out from behind the desk to approach his friend.

"Ace!" Deuce called out as he tried to get Ace off the nearly unconscious man. "Hey, that's enough, man!"

Ace relented as Deuce pulled him away, but his eyes were still fiercely trained on the man gasping on the ground.

"Go cool your head off," Deuce pushed him towards the back of the shop, away from public eyes.

* * *

Ace sighed as he made himself comfortable on the reclining chair and readjusted the magazine on his face so that it wasn't sliding off. He winced when the magazine pressed against the shiner on his face.

Thanks to Deuce, they didn’t have charges filed against them. Even though Ace had only reacted after the man had thrown the first punch, his use of excessive force would have been difficult to overlook. With a little persuasion, a slight play on words and a handful of threats, Deuce managed to convince the couple not to press charges.

After the shop was quiet and calm once more, Deuce helped Ace with his injuries as he gave his usual lecture about getting into fights and causing him trouble. And as usual, Ace only listened absent mindedly and nodded and hummed in random intervals before thanking him for his help and walking away.

Deuce had insisted that he at least apply some ice on the bruise for fifteen minutes, but Ace didn't have the patience to keep a hold of it for too long. He could ice his bruise now as he waited for time to go by, but he felt too tired to get up and get a bag of ice.

Ace sighed as he could feel his muscles relaxing one by one. He was so tired he hadn't even had the energy to clean up after himself. His hair was a mess of a bird's nest, and not only were his clothes stained with engine oil and other dubious substances, his arms and neck were also streaked with black smudges and dirt. He was even sure there were even smudges on his face.

There was nothing he could about it now. He would take care of it all with a hot shower once he got back home. For now, he only had to wait for a couple of more minutes to close the shop.

* * *

Marco smiled at the soft tune that played when he opened the doors to the auto shop.

He had come on a recommendation of his brother since he decided he wanted a career change. Blamenco had loved cars and electronics since they were young, and he had been the family's go-to mechanic even before he had graduated from college. So, when he announced that he had plans for something greater than just being a mechanic, the whole family had been surprised but they readily supported him in his choice.

That had been a couple of weeks ago. Marco had been too busy to even call to make an appointment, but based on his other siblings' appraisals, this guy was good at what he did.

Since he got off at a reasonable hour today, and the auto shop was on his way home, Marco decided to stop by to see the place and make an appointment in person.

The auto shop had a nice colorful appearance from the front, and it seemed like the interior was just as colorful if not more.

Marco thought there was no one at the reception until he walked closer and noticed the person with their feet up on the desk.

Marco cleared his throat loudly in an attempt to get some attention, but the person barely stirred. He decided to kick the desk and the resounding "thump" seemed to have startled him awake.

"The fuck you want?" Ace growled sluggishly after he was rudely woken up from his nap.

Marco frowned at the crass attitude and the state of the employee in front of him. He might have been at some fault for coming in ten minutes before closing time, but he didn't deserve this sort of disrespect. He was starting to question his siblings' judgements.

Ace scrubbed at his face before looking up at the person in front of him. When he noticed the frown on his face, Ace recalled what he had said upon wakening and sighed internally.

Ace was a sociable person and he had the charisma to charm anyone he talked to, but he also had an explosive personality that was driven by his anger most often than not. It got him in trouble countless times in the past and he had gotten better at controlling it as he grew older, but his self-control slipped when he was in vulnerable moments. Moments like being startled awake.

"Is there anything I can help you with or are you going to keep standing there and glare at me?" Ace said. They had already started off on a bad foot and there was nothing he could do to fix it now.

Marco eased up on his frown and simply asked to make an appointment.

Ace sighed internally, glad that at least the client hadn't walked out. He went through the motions of navigating through their system and booked the appointment. Once he had all the details written down on one of their business cards, Ace held it out towards the other.

Marco grabbed the card, but he looked quizzically at Ace when he didn’t let go.

"Thanks for, um," Ace said as he rubbed the back of his neck. He took a deep breath. "Thanks for doing business with us despite my shitty attitude."

Marco scrutinized him for a few seconds before tugging the card of out his hand. "I hope your skills are good enough to back that up."

Marco pocketed the card and walked out of the auto shop.

The merry tune of the door brought Ace out of his trance and reminded him that he still needed to close the shop.

Ace smirked as his competitive drive was sparked. He still felt the pain from the shiner on his face and he felt like there were layers upon layers of dirt and grime on him, but at least he felt reenergized enough to close up and get home without slouching all the way.

**Author's Note:**

> Ey! First piece, barely 1.5k 😂 oh god.
> 
> This is my first time participating in a bingo and it's been fun so far! I had to do some research for most of my prompts just so I was sure I understood the prompt and I think this one was the simplest, thus the first one to be completed. Going to work on the second one now!
> 
> Also to anyone that is interested, the bingo event is hosted by op-pirate-fleet . tumblr . com


End file.
